Fender Stratocaster: The Birth of a Icon

Now in its seventh decade, the highly versatile, sleek and supremely good-looking Fender Stratocaster defies its age in the most convincing and elegant manner.

In this post we take a look back at some of the earliest models of this iconic instrument and show you what they currently sell for.

1954

The Fender Stratocaster as we know it was conceived in 1954. From March to September of that year Leo Fender, George Fullerton and Freddie Tavares experimented with a number of hand-made designs until the final first production version was released in October.

1955

1956

In 1956 Fender changed the wood used in the body of sunburst models from ash to alder. Guitars were also dyed instead of sprayed to apply the yellow tint to the sunburst models. The shape of the body was also modified with the U-shaped neck replaced by a soft-V shaped neck.

1960’s

Few major changes were made to the Stratocaster in the early 60’s. Then in 1965, Leo Fender sold Fender to the Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) for $13 million. Following the sale, changes to materials and manufacturing processes started to noticeably reduce the quality of Stratocaster’s as CBS sought to increase profit margins.